Two otters have moved - Join our new house!

[Selkit]

See the latest post in the thread for current information - Some of this information is now out of date

[Tempest]

Hey, I might be interested in this... I'm currently on the island, but I'm transferring to the mainland. It might be nice to live with some furs. I was looking for something less than $700/m and this would probably make that feasible. Also hoping to find a place by Sept 1... I'm really hoping for something close to BCIT tho as my work will be pretty close to there. I'll leave you my # to text me if you're interested :)

[Selkit]

Hi, Tempest and everyone still interested; I have (much!) more details on the place, now that we have selected one:

The house in question is in northwest Surrey, approximately 7-8 blocks walking distance from Gateway station (I could walk there in about 15-20 minutes). Parking is available, and it's quite spacious for 3 people. There are a few basic caveats, and a few features available here:

Cons:

- Must be able to deal with two fairly comfortable otters. In our current living arrangements, we share our tools, our cookware, and we have a collective grocery pool, not "That's MINE". For most purposes, Loial and I might as well be family. Any roomie that simply wishes to sit in a room, ignore everything outside their door, and hermitize, will not work very well with us. We do like to eat fairly well, so this might not be much of a con! However, a vegan will probably disapprove of our usual fare.

- It is an older house. We will be making repairs and additions such as ethernet wiring, new paint and other adjustments. The landlord will be permitting and funding these things, and I understand that some work will be done to repair other minor issues we've inspected ourselves; The last tenants lived there for 10 years, so there's a bit of wear and tear needing minding. There are no serious flaws, water damage or other issues, however.

- We will absolutely not tolerate smoking of any kind; This is a strict, no-budge point, and I would prefer a nonsmoking room-mate.

- The same sadly goes for cats. They're adorable, fuzzy, cute, and allergen-death for me. Other animals shouldn't be too much of an issue, unless you have a tarantula; Loial hates spiders.

Pros:

- Access to good tools. Loial and I share. A good assortment of hand tools, some smaller bench tools, a laser cutter capable of doing plastics and light wood, and a pair of 3D printers are available, along with a smattering of leatherworking tools and sewing machine. We *love* projects. If you're a maker, we'll love having you here. If possible, I intend to build a forge/barbecue pit in the back yard.

- An enormous garage. Two cars enormous. We plan to turn one half of this garage into work-space. This garage is almost the size of the current apartment Loial and I live in.

- Cool neighbors. Most of them stick to themselves, there aren't any noise level issues for the most part, and the back-suite neighbors are good.

- Lots of elbow room. The bedrooms themselves are comparatively small, but the rest of the house offers a lot of communal space, including a balcony, a reasonably-sized kitchen, and a large combined living/dining room.

- Reasonable transit access. We're not right next to a skytrain station, but the skytrain is one bus hop, or about a 15-20 minute walk if you're up to it.

- Good food and cheap beer. Loial and I both cook, and I brew. If you feel like it, contribute to my ingredient and consumables costs, and I'll brew some delicious beer to share.

- Parking for up to 3 vehicles. 2 outdoors, 1 in the garage.

- Did I mention good food? You may have a hard time staying thin around us. Wednesday night's dinner was a pot-roast in cast iron basted in syrah wine, seasoned with rosemary, garlic, parsley and shallot, with roast root veggies alongside, and a dripping gravy. Cooking is a team sport for us.

Interested? Poke us. Rent is $1600 for the whole house; We have not decided how this will be split. The master bedroom is already called for, personally, so I will likely be taking a somewhat larger share of rent.

[Selkit]

More information!

- Rent will be $510 plus utilities. Utilities will include TekSavvy high-speed cable internet at $37/month and hydro split three ways. You are on your own for a phone unless you wish to make a case for a landline. I will be taking $580 a month for rent, as I am being a selfish otter and claiming the larger of the bedrooms. Denspace. Mine.

- Move-in date is October 1st. We will gladly coordinate with you as far as possibly loaning you vehicle-space and assisting you in moving. We don't have access to the place before then.

[Jesse]

I am planning on moving around October ,The deal you have is decent.

I do have have 2 vehicles one is my daily driver the other is a ongoing project,the project is currently out on a farm but its something I would like to be able to work on over the winter.

[Selkit]

That would be doable. Right now, Loial and I have the one vehicle. We'll have to set up some sort of arrangement if you plan on occupying a larger chunk of garage space with a parked project vehicle, as we'd intended to make the bulk of that into workshop space. Still, that might be interesting; We tend to like people who have projects. We'd need to meet and get acquainted, however.

[Zareth]

Sent you a PM. c:

[Selkit]

Alright! So we're still contemplating a roomie, but, the situation has shifted a bit, as have rental amounts and shares:

The basics:

- We are now occupying the house in question. I have taken the master bedroom. Loial will be taking the side bedroom once it has been painted. For this reason, move-in will be at the start of December, at the absolute earliest; He's currently occupying the other room you would be in, while we unpack and prep to paint.

- This house has a very large amount of common area; Recluses will not get along very well with us, as use of common area will probably be required, even encouraged, unless your belongings and furniture can fit into a closet. The front rooms are small.

- Rent includes in-house laundry. You will not have to use a laundromat here. The only stipulation is, you will be using the detergent on hand; I have nasty allergies to some chemical scents and detergents, so I have to be pretty fastidious and attentive about what is used in the washer.

- Rent includes parking. We have space here for at least two, possibly even three vehicles dependent on size. We only have one right now. There is no charge for parking.

- We have neighbors in the smaller back unit. They're reclusive, seem to hate contact, stick to their own devices, and hiss when prodded at. They are mostly harmless, and have been non-problematic. They don't seem to mind noise, but we have an agreement with them that workshop noise is to stop at 9 PM. Fair.

The perks:

- Otters. I mean, c'mon. Two otters for roomies.

- I brew beer. If you brew, we will get along famously. If you do not brew, but you like beer, we will still get along famously. I can be bribed with malt and hops to brew a beer for you. I wouldn't mind attempting mead or braggot or other beverages; I have the equipment and the zymurgy-fu.

- Rent includes shop space and tool use, so long as you are responsible with tools. Abusing my tools or Loial's tools will cost you this privilege. Our tools include a laser cutter and basic metal/woodworking tools and bench tools, as well as a plethora of smaller hand tools. Once I can pour concrete and lay bricks, I have plans and funds (And landlord's permission) to build a small forge in the yard. Iron otter!

- I am looking around for a barbecue. I will have one Soon(tm). Anyone adversely inclined towards roast meats and grilled stuff, may want to look away. But I suppose I could be persuaded nicely to roast some cubed acorn squash in maple syrup, cardamom and cinnamon.

- We have an absolutely enormous back yard. Like, stonking big, by Surrey standards. This yard is shared with the neighbors; However, they don't seem to use it for arse-all.

- I like craft beer and nice wine & spirits. I also like sharing the same. Stealing from my cellar reserves will result in eviction, but generally, you won't have to worry about helping yourself; I'm pretty generous with the stuff. I also tend to maintain a public segment of the beer fridge, which is free for grabs so long as you contribute periodically to it. Yes, "Beer fridge", as in, we have an entire fridge devoted to nothing but libations.

- We Make Things(tm). If you want to build something, chances are, we have experience building something of the nature, or at least have an inkling of how it can be done. We love to help on projects.

The costs:

- Rent does not include utilities. Utilities are approximately $100 per head per month here; Gas heating, internet, and power. We do not pay sanitation or water, landlord takes care of those. Our internet service is 25 mbit DSL, with a static IP. Networking equipment and wiring will be provided. We have eventual plans and the landlord's permission to wire this place with a proper patch panel.

- We share groceries here; There is no such thing as having your own cubby in the fridge to hoard things in, we cook meals collectively where possible, use communal supplies, and arguably, make *really* good food at that. For the same reason, you won't have to worry about cookware, we already have an excellent set, and we aren't afraid to use it. You will be very well fed here. However, our monthly grocery costs run to about $200 per head, and we contribute mutually to it. I bought a decent, brand new Samsung bottom-freezer fridge because the original fridge in this unit was a derelict from the 80s; Food is srsbsns with us ots.

- Rent is $510. This includes all the perks mentioned. It does not include utilities. You can reasonably expect your monthly costs here to be $610, plus food.

The caveats (Pay careful attention!)

- There's no nice way to put it. We're clothing optional at times, inside the house. If this bothers you, we aren't the house for you. Loial and I are quite comfortable around one another. No, no ridiculous notions of mandatory nudity, though.

- Month to month tenancy. We do not have a lease here, nor did we want one.

- Allergies in-house. No smokers, not even outside, having cigarette smoke on your clothing is enough to trigger me in close quarters. No cats. No birds. Especially no spiders; Loial hates them, but I kinda like them. Pity. A dog, snake, ferret or other critter may be allowable dependent on size/nature, but we will need to clear it with the landlord, you will be responsible for its actions, and you will also be responsible for the additional pet deposit. However, the landlord has been very pet friendly in past.

- Older house. We will be doing periodic maintenance/repairs to the place. The landlord will approve/fund any such projects, and in a couple cases, already has; We upgraded our kitchen sink, for starters, including new brass plumbing and a flexible restaurant-style sprayer faucet. This may mean improvements and tweaks. Actually, almost always improvements. It also means drafty windows, old carpet, dings on things, and Some Assembly Required bits here 'n there. We've already handled the egregious stuff, but there's more coming. Handy with tools? Great. We may shanghai you to help, or ask you for input on colors.

- Transit access is not the greatest, but it's far from the worst. The nearest major bus line (335) is about a 10 minute walk, leading to Surrey Central or Gateway or Guildford town centre, or the 104th avenue transit corridor (320, 501, 96B) is a 15 minute walk. However, if you're reasonably fit, I've found that Gateway station is walkable within 20 minutes; I've been walking that commute for the past few weeks. Whatever you do, do not attempt to take a shortcut south of here; You will literally get lost in the woods. I discovered that the hard way. Three hours lost. Fun, but only if you're up for an unplanned nature hike.

Interested? PM me, or e-mail me at selkit@gmail.com. Or if you already have my cell number, feel free to call/text.